Average spot power price plunges 40% to Rs 3.59 per unit in November; here is the reason

The all-India peak demand reached 162 gigawatts (GW) on November 2, up 9% from the same month last year, as per NLDC (National Load Dispatch Centre) statistics.

In the current fiscal, IEX has cumulatively traded 59.34 lakh RECs from 34.38 lakh in November last year, an increase of 73%.

The average power spot prices dropped about 40% to Rs 3.59 per unit in the month of November on the energy exchange as compared with the last month. According to a statement by Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), lower demand in northern and western states, mainly on account of the onset of winter, was one of the key reasons for the decline in the prices.

The coal availability with thermal power generators improved in the month of November and ‘One Nation, One Price’ was realised for 17 days, it added.

“The average Market Clearing Price (MCP) at Rs 3.59 per unit registered 1.12% increase over Rs 3.55 per unit in the same month last year (November 2017),” the energy exchange said in the statement. The all-India peak demand reached 162 gigawatts (GW) on November 2, up 9% from the same month last year, as per NLDC (National Load Dispatch Centre) statistics.

The day-ahead market (DAM) experienced transmission congestion of 3.3%, due to import towards southern region. There was a decline of 3% on a year-on-year basis to 3,404 million units (MU) in the DAM trading during the month. Nearly 113 MU were traded on the daily average basis on IEX. Also, a total of 622 participants traded in the market on a daily average basis in the month of November.

In November, the power supplied saw an increase 7% at 1,00,547 MU from 94,371 MU in the year-ago period. On the other hand, the term-ahead market (TAM) traded 170 MU, down 46% from the same period last year. About 3.88 lakh renewable energy certificates (RECs) were cleared in the REC trading sessions held on November 28, IEX said.

In the current financial year, the exchange has cumulatively traded 59.34 lakh RECs from 34.38 lakh in November last year, an increase of 73%.